A Glass Of Champagne

Chapter Nine

SOLANA

Five minutes.

Five minutes is how long we've been staring at each other without either one of us uttering a single word. His dark green eyes bore into my dark brown irises. I have yet to move from my standing position, finding comfort in the distance between us.

Five minutes is also how long it took for my eyes to trace over his beautifully sculpted face. His moles, which happens to be my favorite part about his face, still look as beautiful as ever. His perfectly sculpted eyebrows are still firmly bushy, and his jawline is still sharp. Time did Dario well. He was always beautiful, but now, seeing him this close, he's perfection.

"You gonna say something or keep staring at me?" His harsh tone breaks me out of my trance. The blunt rests in between his lips.

"Aren't you not supposed to smoke when in the NBA? Don't you guys get drug tested?" Is the first thing I say to the man I haven't spoken to in five years. Sure, a hello or how have you been would've sufficed as a good introduction, but at this point we are way past pleasantries.

He deeply chuckles before taking another hit of the blunt, then throwing it to the ground. "We aren't, but a guy on my team urinates for me when we take tests."

"Isn't that risky? You can get caught Dario and then what? You get kicked out of the NBA and all the hard work you put in goes down the drain because you couldn't let go of weed." I can't help the concern in my voice.

"I need it." He firmly says, leaning back on the bench.

"Weed?"

He nods.

I sigh. "No you don't Dario. You don't need it at all. Remember when you told me you'd stop smoking?" I think back to our first weeks in college. Dario was involved in a car wreck. It wasn't too bad to where he was harshly injured, but it could've been worse. Dario was driving while high, going twenty times over the speed limit in a residential area. The officer at the scene let Dario off with a warning because Dario was the star basketball player in town and he was a fan of his.

I remember being so irate with Dario. I was frustrated with the fact that he was so reckless with his life. That wasn't the first time weed had played a factor in a lot of bad moments in his life. After the accident, I made Dario promise me he'd stop smoking, and he did. So I'm not understanding why or how he's back to smoking.

"Don't act like you care about me Solana." His tone is dark and harsh, almost like he despises me.

"I do care about you Dario, always will." I sigh, "When did you start smoking again?"

His jaw ticks as his low red eyes analyze me. "When you left."

Oh.

I don't know how to respond to that. Wow.

My eyes soften as I harshly gulp, "Dario—"

"Don't fucking apologize." He snaps, "And all this bullshit about me smoking, so the fuck what? It's weed, ain't like it's going to kill me."

"Dario—

"When are you leaving?" He abruptly interrupts, as he sits up on the bench, leaning forward.

"Tomorrow morning. Today is my last day." I responded.

He nods. "You can't leave tonight?"

I cock my head back. "So ready for me to go?"

He shrugs, "I mean, that's what your good at right? Let's speed up the process."

I fold my arms, "And let's take a look at what your so good at. I mean other then basketball and getting high, is fucking best friends your new thing too?"